Nuts and Volts - March 2015

was the Altera DE1 FPGA that was programmed to act as a Color Computer 3 emulator. The Altera DE1 is a “blank” Field Programmable Gate Array (hence, FPGA). The programmer can build a system that will allow the DE1 to mimic a computing device. Once the FPGA is programmed, it behaves as the computer it was programmed to be.

In this case, the programmer put together software for the Altera DE3 that emulates a Color Computer. Its compatibility — although not 100% — is impressive as it runs most software available for the Color Computer 3. The person behind this project is Gary Becker, and he has a Yahoo! Group dedicated to the FPGA CoCo 3 at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CoCo3FPGA.

Here‘s an introductory overview of the Altera DE1: www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPXMk TJxD_s. This next link presents a short demo of the Altera DE1 Color Computer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttf82tPXUko.

LogiCall

LogiCall 7.0 is a software application that has a history of almost 20 years, and was mainly written by Bob Swoger with crucial and extensive collaboration by John Mark Mobley and Chris Hawks (of HAWKSoft). LogiCall runs on all versions of the CoCo, plus some other computer systems (such as the Sinclair 2068), and provides the user with a basic shell that allows him or her to navigate the file system structure of the attached drives using a menu based system.

Additionally, LogiCall can also accept commands from the user to perform some file operations such as copy, rename, delete, and move, and some administrative operations such as backup and diskette format.

The objective of this software is to make using the Color Computer more visual and intuitive. This is accomplished through the menu structure and its innovative use of one-keystroke commands.

The app’s source code is provided so that individuals can customize the software to their unique needs. As an added bonus to registered attendees, LogiCall provided a 16 GB USB Flash drive so that everyone could try it out.

History of the Color Computer

Both Boisy Pitre and Bill Loguidice were at the CoCoFEST! to promote their new book, CoCo: The Colorful History of Tandy's Underdog Computer, published in December 2013 by CRC Press. This book presents the reader with a detailed history of the CoCo from its conception to its production.

The authors had a round-table discussion that went overtime. Attendees were interested in hearing the stories behind the book and behind the Color Computer. The discussion closed with a question and answer session. Both authors were eager to share experiences and answer the public’s questions.

Their book is available through Amazon and can be located easily by searching its title.

More CoCo Stuff

Another interesting display was by John Linville. He had a fully functional LED array display system connected to a Color Computer. This project was built following instructions from an article that appeared in an issue of Nuts & Volts dating back to 2000.

A central and strategic fundraising event was the annual CoCoFEST! auction where all sorts of CoCo and some non-CoCo stuff was auctioned off. This event is the highlight of the first day of the event (not counting the festivities that go on after the show). Alas, I had to leave as the auction was getting started, so I can’t report a play-by-play of that event.

All in all, everyone had a great time, celebrating friendship and a small underdog computer of the ’80s that left a spirit of community and collaboration which is still going strong today. NV